John Calvin Commentary Luke 12

Yea, I say to you, Fear Him.⁵⁹⁶ This is an emphatic,⁵⁹⁶ repetition of the statement. Christ must be understood as saying that when we give in to the fear of men, we show no respect for God; and that if, on the contrary, we fear God, we have an easy victory in our hands, so that no efforts of men will lead us away from our duty.

The experience of every age shows the great necessity of this exhortation for the ministers of Christ, and also for all believers in general; for there has never been a time when people did not rise furiously against God and try to overwhelm the Gospel.⁵⁹⁷

Indeed, not all are armed with equal power to present believers with the fear of death, but most are driven by that savage ferocity, which reveals itself as soon as an opportunity arises. Often, too, Satan brings forward giants, before whom the servants of Christ would fall down lifeless, if this doctrine did not fortify them to maintain unwavering perseverance.

Since the two clauses are very closely related, some unskillful people take an incorrect view by reading this clause, Fear them not. For Christ (as we have already said), to cure that wicked fear of men which leads us away from the right path, contrasts it with a devout and holy fear of God. Otherwise, the conclusion would not follow that if we fear God, who is the Lord of body and soul, we have no reason to fear men, whose power goes no further than the body.

Regarding the statement that men have power to kill the body, Christ made it by way of concession. God allows wicked men such a degree of liberty that they become swollen with confidence in their own power, imagine they can attempt anything, and even succeed in terrifying weak minds, as if they could do whatever they pleased.

However, the proud imagination of wicked men—that the life of the godly is at their disposal—is utterly unfounded; for God keeps them within limits and restrains the cruelty and violence of their attacks whenever He pleases. And yet they are said to have power to kill by His permission, for He often permits them to indulge their cruel rage.

Besides, our Lord’s discourse consists of two parts. First, to instruct us to bear the loss of the bodily life with composure, He bids us contemplate both eternal life and eternal death. Then, He gradually arrives at the point that the protection of our life is in the hand of God.

Bid my brother divide. Our Lord, when requested to undertake the office of dividing an inheritance, refuses to do so. Since this tended to promote brotherly harmony, and since Christ’s office was not only to reconcile men to God but also to bring them into agreement with one another, what prevented him from settling the dispute between the two brothers?²⁶⁵

There appear to have been chiefly two reasons why he declined the office of a judge. First, because the Jews imagined that the Messiah would have an earthly kingdom,²⁶⁶ he wished to guard against doing anything that might support this error.

If they had seen him divide inheritances, the report of that proceeding would immediately have been circulated. Many would have been led to expect a carnal redemption, which they too ardently desired, and wicked men would have loudly declared that he was effecting a revolution in the state and overturning the Roman Empire.

Nothing could be more appropriate, therefore, than this reply, by which all would be informed that the kingdom of Christ is spiritual. Let us learn from this to regulate our conduct by prudence and to undertake nothing that might be unfavorably interpreted.

Secondly, our Lord intended to draw a distinction between the political kingdoms of this world and the government of his Church. He had been appointed by the Father to be a Teacher, who should divide asunder, by the sword of the word, the thoughts and feelings, and penetrate into the souls of men, (Hebrews 4:12), but he was not a magistrate to divide inheritances. This condemns the robbery of the Pope and his clergy, who, while they claim to be pastors of the Church, have dared to usurp an earthly and secular jurisdiction, which is inconsistent with their office. For what is in itself lawful may be improper for certain persons.

There was also, in my opinion, a third reason of great weight. Christ saw that this man was neglecting doctrine and was looking only to his private concerns. This is a very common ailment.

Many who profess the Gospel do not hesitate to use it as a false pretense for advancing their private interests, and to plead the authority of Christ as a justification for their gains.

From the exhortation²⁶⁷ that is immediately added, we may readily draw this inference. For if that man had not used the Gospel as a pretext for his own profit, Christ would not have taken the opportunity to give this warning against covetousness. The context, therefore, makes it sufficiently evident that this was a pretended disciple, whose mind was entirely occupied with lands or money.

It is highly absurd for the Anabaptists to infer from this reply that no Christian has a right to divide inheritances, to take part in legal decisions, or to discharge any public office. Christ does not argue from the nature of the thing itself, but from his own calling. Having been appointed by the Father for a different purpose, he declares that he is not a judge, because he has received no such command. Let us hold to this rule, that everyone keep within the limits of the calling which God has given him.

Take heed and beware of covetousness. Christ first guards his followers against covetousness, and next, in order to cure their minds entirely of this disease, he declares that our life consists not in abundance.

These words point out the inward fountain and source from which flows the mad eagerness for gain.

This eagerness arises because the general belief is that a man is happy in proportion to how much he possesses, and that the happiness of life is produced by riches.

From this belief arise those immoderate desires, which, like a fiery furnace, send forth their flames and yet do not cease to burn within.

If we were convinced that riches and any kind of abundance are evils of the present life, which the Lord bestows upon us with his own hand and the use of which is accompanied by his blessing, this single consideration would have a powerful influence in restraining all wicked desires. This is what believers have come to learn from their own experience.²⁶⁸

For why do they moderate their wishes and depend on God alone? It is because they do not look upon their life as necessarily connected with abundance or dependent upon it, but instead rely on the providence of God, who alone upholds us by his power and supplies us with whatever is necessary.

What shall I do? Wicked men are driven to perplexity in their deliberations, because they do not know how anything is to be lawfully used;²⁶⁹ and, furthermore, because they are intoxicated with a foolish confidence that makes them forget themselves.

Thus we find that this rich man lengthens his expectation of life in proportion to his large income and drives far away from him the remembrance of death.

Yet this pride is accompanied by distrust. For such men, even when they have had their fill, are still agitated by insatiable desire. This is like the rich man, who enlarges his barns as if his belly—which had been filled from his former barns—had not gotten enough.

At the same time, Christ does not expressly condemn this man for acting the part of a careful householder in storing up his produce. Instead, He condemns him because his ravenous desire, like a deep whirlpool, swallows up and devours many barns. From this, it follows that he does not comprehend the proper use of abundant produce.